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How strange a year is this for movie awards?
So strange that Netflix will likely not just lead but dominate all companies in Oscar nominations, and nominees from streaming companies will potentially outnumber ones from Hollywood studios. So strange that the Best Picture winner may well be a movie that never saw the inside of a commercial theater in Los Angeles or New York. So strange that in a year in which the theatrical distribution of films has been all but impossible, the Oscars documentary category shattered the previous record for the number of eligible films, and the international race seems likely to set a new record as well.
And so strange that the Los Angeles Film Critics Association considered the slate of 2020 films, threw its collective hands in the air and decided that the year’s best film was Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe,” which happens to be 1) a limited series for the BBC and Amazon, which is being entered in the television categories at all awards shows, not the film categories; and 2) five separate parts with different characters, different casts and different subjects, as LAFCA essentially admitted when it named one of the “Small Axe” pieces, “Lovers Rock,” runner-up in its music category.
Also Read: Steve McQueen’s ‘Small Axe’ Series Named Best Picture of 2020 by LA Film Critics
A critics’ group whose previous 48 best-film winners have included 11 Oscar Best Picture winners and 41 Best Picture nominees has, for the first time, picked a movie that’s not even eligible for Oscars. (It’ll be competing for Emmys instead.) And it did so, according to a person who took part in the virtual voting, without really discussing whether “Small Axe” belonged in the conversation.
Essentially, LAFCA used this odd, tumultuous year as an opportunity to redefine what a movie is. But then again, the Academy and other critics’ groups have done the same thing by changing their eligibility rules in the wake of the pandemic.
Until this year, a film couldn’t enter the Oscar race unless it was released theatrically for a week in Los Angeles and New York. Prior to 2020, premiering on a streaming or video-on-demand service would disqualify a movie from Oscar contention. Before the pandemic shut down theaters, they were a necessary step to awards.
But to retain those rules this year would be to admit that the 2020 Oscars couldn’t really take place — a prospect that would be a huge financial hit to AMPAS, which derives the vast majority of its operating income from the broadcast rights to the show. So the rules were relaxed and altered, then relaxed and altered some more as the pandemic raged on.
Also Read: Oscars Ease Eligibility Rules, Allow Films With Drive-In Releases to Qualify
At first, films were allowed to qualify if their confirmed theatrical bookings had been cancelled. When the closures continued into the summer and fall, to the point where no new movies would have had confirmed bookings, movies were allowed to qualify by getting letters from exhibitors saying that they would have shown this movie theatrically. Eventually, movies could qualify by premiering on VOD or streaming, but also paying $12,500 to be in the Academy Screening Room.
The Academy spent the year redefining the word movie, and also redefining 2020 by stretching the eligibility date for two months, from Dec. 31 to Feb. 28. Other awards bodies followed suit, leading to this oddest and most elongated of all awards years.
And in that climate, perhaps it’s no surprise that the Los Angeles Film Critics Association decided that it was OK if they redefined the word movie, too. While most critics’ groups have rejected the Academy’s 14-month calendar and held firm to the belief that the best movies of 2020 should not include ones released in early 2021, LAFCA was perhaps emboldened by the loosey-goosey nature of this year to decide that if it was made by a movie director they liked, they could call it a movie.
Also Read: Oscars Documentary Race Tops 200 Entries to Shatter Old Record (Exclusive)
So far, more critics groups have gone for Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” — and how strange is it that a daring but understated movie starring mostly nonprofessional actors and made by an indie director whose two previous films had a combined gross of less than $5 million now feels like the safe choice for Best Picture?
But in 2020, after all, strange is the new abnormal. The question is whether we’ll be able to go back to the old normal once this awards season is over and once the pandemic has abated. Netflix and Amazon certainly aren’t going to stop making awards movies, and the companies were able to qualify them long before the new rules made that job easier. But if this year’s routes to eligibility are shut down, will we go back to knowing what’s a movie, what’s a TV show and where the line exists between the two?
Don’t count on it. Lines have been blurring for years, and the pandemic has only accelerated that in the way it has moved virtually all entertainment into the home. At this point, maybe everybody just needs to do what LAFCA did, and define the word movie by borrowing Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s 1964 comment about obscenity: “Perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly (defining it), but I know it when I see it.”
Related stories from TheWrap:Oscars International Entries Are Close to New Record, But Voters Can’t See Them All Yet5 Years After #OscarsSoWhite, Film Academy COO Is Pushing to ‘Institutionalize the Good’ (Video)Yes, Steven Soderbergh Is Dressed as ‘The Fifth Beatle’ in His Oscars Head Shot
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From the influence of John Lennon to his vintage kit…Paul McCartney took part in a Twitter listening party last night (December 21st).
The Beatle icon has just released new album ‘McCartney III’, a solo endeavour that was constructed during lockdown.
Working from his Surrey home studio, Paul McCartney wrote, played, and produced the record entirely on his own – makes our lockdown sourdough look pretty pathetic, to be honest.
Taking part in a Twitter listening party – organised by Tim Burgess – Paul McCartney revealed a few of his secrets…
Here’s five things we learned.
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Paul McCartney is still influenced by his Beatles cohort John Lennon.
‘McCartney III’ highlight ‘Lavatory Lil’ is a conscious hark back to John Lennon’s ‘Polythene Pam’, a character study that was twisted into a life of its own.
The songwriter says it’s “a fiction about what they do and what they’re like…”

It harks back to one of John’s old songs, Polythene Pam, and what you do is you take half an idea of someone, you just make a fiction about what they do and what they’re like, so that was Lavatory Lil’. #TimsTwitterListeningParty #McCartneyIII
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) December 21, 2020
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Paul utilised a tonne of sublime vintage gear when making ‘McCartney III’.

I used my vintage Brenell Tape machine on this to create a guitar tape loop ‘orchestra’ – which consisted of two different chords each made up of five notes. #TimsTwitterListeningParty #McCartneyIII pic.twitter.com/CYieqNDBGW
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) December 21, 2020

I got to use the Kay M-1 upright bass on this. Previously played and owned by Bill Black when he played and toured with Elvis. How cool is that! #TimsTwitterListeningParty #McCartneyIII
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) December 21, 2020

We used our Studer J37 Tape Machine on this track. The drums were recorded at double speed #TimsTwitterListeningParty #McCartneyIII pic.twitter.com/1DSVlF6BlR
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) December 21, 2020
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The song ‘Carpe Diem’ is a direct reaction to COVID.
‘McCartney III’ was written and recorded during the pandemic, a time when Paul McCartney’s plans had been thrown into disarray. Working quietly with his family at home, the atmosphere of this period is directly referenced in ‘Carpe Diem’, a typically positive approach to a hugely difficult spell for many people.

This song has a little bit of a feeling of covid times, because it is saying even though times are tough, let’s try and remember that we’ll be glad if we seize the day #TimsTwitterListeningParty #McCartneyIII
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) December 21, 2020
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The blues remains a key influence.
Paul McCartney has always had a soft spot for the blues, and revealed that ‘McCartney III’ song ‘Women And Wives’ was prompted by the impact of Leadbelly.
Indeed, it was Leadbelly who popularised ‘Rock Island Line’ – a hit for Lonnie Donegan, it sparked the skiffle revolution, which in turn birthed Beatles prototype group The Quarrymen.

Women and Wives I wrote when I had just been reading a book on the Blues artist Lead Belly, so I was trying to get in this bluesy mood so I played simple chords and started singing in what I imagined was like a bluesy style #TimsTwitterListeningParty #McCartneyIII
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) December 21, 2020
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Paul McCartney basically remains a hippy.
One of the wealthiest musicians on the planet, Paul McCartney loves nothing better than getting his hands dirty, tapping into that “idealistic… hippy existence on a farm”.
Of course, when the Beatles finally confirmed their split in 1970 that’s exactly what he did – taking his young family to rural Scotland, where he would mend his own fences, make his own furniture, and lead a simple life, a world away from Beatlemania fame.

This song is kind of an idealistic thing, a hippy existence on a farm, planting trees, mending fences and living the good life which is something I like, I love nature and I love that idea of getting down and getting your hands dirty #TimsTwitterListeningParty #McCartneyIII
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) December 21, 2020
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Re-visit the Paul McCartney listening party HERE.
‘McCartney III’ is out now.
Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.

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Beatles musician Ringo Starr has spoken out about not being able to join his family in the UK for Christmas due to the pandemic, saying he feels “miserable” but will “get on” with it.
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Lennon and McCartney were inclined occasionally in their songs to sneak in some Liverpool slang or even to make up new words or phrases, as Paul McCartney revealed recently on his official website.
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When a ‘heartbroken’ backpacker met The Beatles in India  BBC News
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Filmmaker Paul Saltzman recounts hanging with the Beatles under the tutelage of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
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Chinese internet giant Tencent is doubling its stake to 20 percent in Universal Music Group, the home of entertainers like Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Drake and the Beatles. Tencent said Friday that it was leading a consortium that agreed to buy an additional 10 percent stake in UMG from parent company Vivendi, in…
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Director Ron Howard has made four documentaries in the last seven years, but he’s a relative newcomer to the nonfiction format. By the time he made his first doc, he had directed 21 narrative features and had been acting, increasingly intermittently, for more than 50 years.
His first three docs were all focused on music: 2013’s “Made in America,” about Jay-Z’s music festival of the same name; 2016’s “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week,” about the Beatles’ days as a touring band; and 2019’s “Pavarotti,” about the operatic tenor. But his latest one, “Rebuilding Paradise,” isn’t showbizzy at all. Instead, it chronicles the Northern California town of Paradise as it tries to rebuild after the devastating 2018 California wildfires that destroyed most of the town.
The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and had its TV debut on the National Geographic Channel in November, follows a number of different Paradise residents as they flee the inferno and then return to ashes. In an interview with TheWrap that Howard did together with his daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard, who directed the 2020 documentary “Dads,” he said that the lure of nonfiction filmmaking was strong — and that an advantage of docs is that you get an audience that is less inclined to question the story.
Also Read: ‘Rebuilding Paradise’ Film Review: Ron Howard Looks for Hope in Documentary About Destruction
And he should know. “I’m going to tell a little anecdote that predates me getting involved in documentaries,” he said. “The first movie I ever made based on real events was ‘Apollo 13,’ and I remember our very first test screening, which was very, very early on.”
The 1995 drama, which starred Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton and Ed Harris, told the harrowing story of the mission to the moon that ended in near catastrophe after an explosion on board. The mission had taken place in April 1970, so it was 25 years in the past when Howard finished the movie.
And the recruited audience at that first screening was given no background. “There’d been no advertising,” he said. “Nothing was explained to the audience. We just kind of brought them in and screened it.”
The film was in rough form, with storyboards and what Howard said were “very rough animatics” in place of finished visual-effects sequences. Even in that early stage, he said, “the audience just loved it.” Of the roughly 350 cards filled out by viewers at the screening, he said, almost all of them scored the film outstanding or very good.
Almost. “There was one (marked) poor,” he said. “So naturally, I had to go through all the cards quickly and find the poor. ‘Where’s the damn poor?’”
Also Read: ‘Rebuilding Paradise’ Director Ron Howard About Why He’s Spoken Up About Climate Change (Exclusive Video)
When he found it, he said, he saw that it had been filled out by a 23-year-old white male. “There were very few comments on it. He just checked (boxes that said) ‘terrible,’ ‘wouldn’t recommend it’ in these big, bold pencil strokes.
“Finally, I flipped over to the back of the card, where it says, ‘Please comment on the ending.’ And that’s the only place he actually wrote any words. He said, ‘Terrible,’ with an exclamation mark. And then he said, ‘More Hollywood bulls—,’ with two exclamation marks. Then he said, ‘They would never survive,’ with three exclamation marks.”
Howard laughed. “Of course, he didn’t know it was based on a true story, and he thought it was corny. And I immediately realized, this is why you choose stories based on real events!”
When Howard “finally developed the courage” to direct documentary features nearly two decades later, he added, “I found I could apply more of what I had learned making scripted narrative films. But more than that, you get to take an even deeper dive, and your audience’s expectations are so, so different. They are curious. This may be enthralling, but it’s not escapism, exactly. They’re leaning in, and the nuances that they pick up on are really exciting.”
Plus, you don’t get complaints about how characters would never do that — because they did it. “Real people, real human beings are extraordinary,” he said. “Their stories are unbelievable, and you would question them if it was a narrative film.”
Howard’s latest narrative film, of course, is “Hillbilly Elegy,” which is itself based on a true story — and which has, yes, run into a healthy amount of questioning from critics.
A full interview with Ron Howard and Bryce Dallas Howard will appear in the special documentary issue of TheWrap’s Oscar magazine.
Related stories from TheWrap:Ron Howard to Direct Biopic on Master Chinese Pianist Lang Lang’Pavarotti’ Film Review: Ron Howard Doc Humanizes Opera LegendBryce Dallas Howard Pinpoints Moment She Knew Her Family Story Would Be in ‘Dads’ (Video)
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Rosa Parks is arrested in Montgomery, Alabama; Former communist official Sergei Kirov is assassinated in Leningrad; Beatlemania arrives in America; Actor and director Woody Allen is born. (Dec. 1)
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Raymond McGinley and Norman Blake in conversation…Teenage Fanclub are always different, always the same. Each album has a welcoming feel, like resuming an age-old conversation with a close friend, gently easing itself into fresh areas while still tugging on old memories.
This time, though, is a little different. It’s a slightly different line up, for one, with Gerard Love having departed the group in 2018. Welsh musician Euros Child comes into the fold on keys, with the newfound space enabling Dave McGowan to move full-time on to bass duties, a line up that was finesse’d on some global – pre-pandemic, we might add – live shows.
It’s a subtle but striking transition, one that Clash explored at length with songwriting pair Raymond McGinley and Norman Blake earlier this week. The two are dynamic but very distinct characters – Norman Blake is staying at his parent’s place just outside of Glasgow, and his breathless comments on the phone arrive in the aftermath of a 10 kilometre walk. He grins down the line: “Just want to keep busy!” His counterpart, however, is rather more taciturn and thoughtful – in terms of conversation, at least, less is more.
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New album ‘Endless Arcade’ is out in March, with exploratory opener ‘Home’ leading the way. “We’re keen to get it out and let people hear it because we’re really pleased with how it’s come out!” Norman exclaims. “We’re all frustrated that we had to cancel the dates. It’s funny – I’m still getting alerts on my calendar every day!”
“Obviously we had to put both the album and the tour back a bit, because of the pandemic. That’s frustrating, but things look as though they’re going to be resolved early next year.”
Every cloud has a silver lining, however, with Teenage Fanclub afforded that rare ability to truly live inside their album. “Because of what’s happened, it did give us more time to spend with the mixes,” he continues. “I was over at Raymond’s – we finished mixing it there, he’s got a nice set up – and it allowed us to ponder our choices. I think we’re really happy with the mixes, and the way everything sounds.”
“It’s always good to get to the end of something,” Raymond comments. “I think everyone who makes music obsesses about it, and you get into this bubble when you’ve been working on a record and it’s just you vs your own expectations. Then you finish… and you sometimes forget that other people will hear this thing you’ve been working on!”
The band picked Clouds Hill Recording in Hamburg as a base – a residential studio, it found the reconstituted line up bedding down in a city they’ve come to love. “Hamburg has always been a place that we liked to go to,” confirms Raymond. The mixing desk is the same one used on John Lennon’s final solo album ‘Double Fantasy’, a piece of Beatles lore that thrilled Norman Blake. “The equipment is great!” he purrs. “There’s accommodation there, and you’re only a couple of stops on the S-Bahn from the Reeperbahn and central Hamburg. It’s a really good city and a nice place to work.”
Choosing six songs each, the band worked quickly, moving with alacrity. “Sonically we’ve always been a bit like this – we don’t conceptualise it, we just do what we feel like doing at the time,” says Raymond. “And that leads to what exists sonically. Sometimes I think you can kid yourself on a bit, that you’re completely in control of how the record is going to sound. From my experience, records come out sounding a bit different to what you actually imagined. Unless you make the record completely on your own, you’ve got other people’s humanity on board, and that’s not a controllable thing… and nor should it be.”
“Sonically, to me, I can hear Euros on keyboards, I can hear Francis on drums, I can hear Dave playing bass. I can hear the people. The sonic thing is a result of different people’s tastes, individual decisions, and what equipment we have at the time. So there’s an element of randomness to that. In any record we’ve ever made, you’re just going with the instinctive feel of what you’re doing at the time. Instead of going into the studio with a half-baked concept in your head… and the reality ends up different! As it always does. You just have to go with the process and see where it takes you.”
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– – –
For Norman, the motivation is almost a form of self-competition. “You’re always trying to write a better song, or something that’s interesting, or something people can relate to, or find catchy. You can come up with a good melody. Come up with an interesting arrangement. I think that’s all you’re ever trying to do – you’re striving to make a better record,” he laughs. “I don’t think we’ve ever done anything that’s tangentially, massively different. It’s pop songs with verses, choruses, and solos – that’s what we do! We feel comfortable doing that.”
‘Endless Arcade’ certainly delivers on that. It feels refreshing but also familiar, with Teenage Fanclub allowing the essential chemistry that lingers inside the line up to come through on record. Teenage Fanclub are a band who thrive on being a band, on the processes and decisions that entails. For Raymond, songwriting is almost a form of self-discovery, with its “self-indulgent processes” affording him moments of creative analysis. “It’s not like you sit down and before you start writing a song you know what you’ll be writing about,” he insists. “Sometimes just the process of writing the song leads you to think about things in different ways. It all comes out as part of deciding to do it in the first place.”
The results speak for themselves. ‘Endless Arcade’ has a real sense of daring, it’s looser, freer than Teenage Fanclub have been for some time – just check out the four minute guitar wig-out that adorns Velvets-inspired chug ‘Home’. “The way we work, we go in, we set up, and we start. We try to make the process as simple as possible,” explains Raymond. “Individually we all care about what we do, we’re all passionate about it, we’re trying to do our best. Sometimes you’ll feel good about what you’ve done, but I don’t think we’re necessarily an angst-ridden bunch in any kind of cliched way – I mean, we have our own cliches, I’m sure! But we go in, we set up, we get comfortable, and do some takes. It’s pretty straight forward, really.”
Perhaps its this simplicity that has enabled Teenage Fanclub to persevere as their peers tumble by the wayside. Labels come and go, line ups shift and evolve, but that central ethic remains the same. “I think we are pragmatic people,” agrees Raymond. “You find yourself in a situation where you’ve got a slightly different thing around you, in terms of what the band is. With Gerry not being there… it’s different. But then Dave is on bass and Euros is there. It’s an inspiring thing! It’s the same as when we moved from Francis playing drums to having Brendan playing drums, and it felt different… there’s a different personality there.”
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“I think – and maybe only people who have played in bands know the extent of this – that little changes around you can have a big impact on you. Being in a band, in terms of the way we work, we go in, set up, look at each other, and go to work. So the personalities involved – everyone involved – does make a big difference to the sound of the record. It sounds like the people.”
He continues: “Different changes led to different elements. I can hear that. When I listen to aspects of the band’s history it sounds like the people involved. Being inside it, we’ve got our own take on how it all is. So having that slightly different set up, it was inspiring to us, definitely.”
With extra breathing space during the pandemic, Teenage Fanclub have taken time to pin down the final elements. They’ve refused to become lost in this endless world, however – at some point, Norman explains, you simply have to cut your ties. “I read this really good David Bowie quote – and he made brilliant-sounding records – and he said, you have to abandon records. Because you can just keep going forever, tinkering with them, and changing little bits and pieces. The way I look at albums is that it’s capturing a moment in time. If we made this moment now it would sound different, for sure. What’s happening in your life – what’s happening environmentally – will influence how the record sounds.”
“When you make something, you’re just happy to reach the end of the process,” he adds. “There’s a sense of fulfilment purely from completing a record. Once it comes out, and you’re on tour… that’s when you start to think – OK, we’ve done that, and now we have to move on to something else now. I suppose in that sense it’s constant evolution. You can never rest on your laurels. And that’s what most songwriters do – anything who is creative will want to do something new.”
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Teenage Fanclub will release new album ‘Endless Arcade’ on March 5th – order it HERE.
Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.

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